Collisionology.

Insights & resources from Chief Technology.

We’ve never met a shop owner who couldn’t use another highly trained employee. Of course, experienced employees are harder to find than ever. And even if you did find one, it doesn’t mean that you could just add them to the payroll without taking a hit to your profitability. So what’s a shop to do when they need another brain, but can’t afford another salary?

Use your distributors to fill in the gaps.

Obviously, your distributor is there to make product recommendations and provide technical info for any equipment you’re contemplating (and, of course, any equipment they’ve already provided). But good distributors are much more valuable to their shops than just being a source of products and product information. And you don’t need to look any further for that added value than your Chief distributor.

The members of our sales network are available long after you’ve installed a piece of Chief equipment. And they’re happy to act as an extension of your shop in numerous ways.

Training. Of course, your Chief distributor trained you and your employees on your equipment when it was installed. If you hire a new employee tomorrow, though, that person will need training, too. And it’s costly to pull one of their new coworkers from profitable jobs to take the time to train them. That’s where your Chief distributor comes in handy. They’re available for any kind of training your new employees may need as your shop expands or simply replaces a tech that’s no longer with you.

Consulting. Are you contemplating an expansion? Are you adding a new piece of equipment, but aren’t sure how to work it into your shop’s current workflow? Your Chief distributor is happy to work with you to plan new space or modify your existing space in order to maximize your efficiency—which also maximizes your profitability.

Information. Chief distributors are obviously well versed on our products. They also have a wealth of information on almost every other topic relevant to your business. After all, they’re around shops all day, every day and have been for years. They’ve seen the systems and practices that lead to victory, and they’ve seen a lot of the pitfalls that can set a shop back—and they’re happy to share that experience with you. If you have a question that no one in your shop can answer, there’s a good chance your Chief distributor will know the answer. And if they don’t, they can do their best to find out.

Trends and Innovation. Not only is your Chief distributor good for general shop information, they can inform you of current trends that are benefitting other shops. And they’re often the first to know about upcoming product launches that could improve your shop’s efficiency and profitability.

What does ever collision repair technician want to have in their work space? That’s simple, an in-bay lift so that they can get vehicles off the floor and up to a comfortable working height for tear downs, reassembly, and metal working operations. If we could add the capability of quickly and efficiently making light duty pulls to rear body panels, radiator supports, and other parts of the vehicle structure to that lift they would be in “technician nirvana”

The Evolution Bench by Globaljig is the bench that can fill the void between a small spacer and large platforms associated with bigger benches. The Evolution's lifting capacity is rated at 7,700lbs, still plenty of strength and capacity for most any job that will come through the shop and for an economical price. For shops that have limited space or budgets, the 4.5 meter Evolution can be an economical bench solution provided you aren’t working with full size trucks on a daily basis. The 4.5 meter Evolution can handle a 4 door short bed ½ ton truck, but if those, or larger trucks, are part of your daily workflow you might want to consider the 5.0 meter Evolution.

Close your eyes and picture the collision shop of the future. It would include cutting edge, precision equipment and electronics, with some of the most highly trained employees. We’re actually describing a shop that exists today and runs business light years ahead of the times. That’s right, nestled on St. Louis’ south side is one of the country’s top auto body shops, Mungenast Collision Center.

So you are in the market for a frame rack. Let’s first review a couple terms, and ensure we are on the same page when discussing options. Some may think that a “frame rack” is a general term for all machines used to hold vehicles during repair, that is only partly true. A frame rack is primarily used while performing repairs on framed vehicles, such as trucks and large SUVs. Benches however, are designed more for unibody vehicles such as compact SUVs, sedans and sports cars.

Managing a fleet can be a tough job. Aside from normal business aspects like profit margin, staffing and customer satisfaction, you must also concern yourself with things like logistics and planned maintenance. This makes an already stressful job almost seem unfair. That’s why, as a shop manager, you should always be looking for ways to streamline procedures and make your life a little easier.

If you ride a motorcycle or better yet race one, then what besides tires is the most important thing to good handling? That’s easy and the same goes for most all vehicles, wheel alignment. But what controls alignment on a motorcycle? Again, it’s the same on most vehicles, the structure and suspension parts. Changing bolt on suspension parts such as fork tubes and swing arms is pretty standard, but how can you check and make adjustments to the “structure” of a motorcycle? Another easy question, and the answer is the Globaljig Motojig Universal Repair System.

A tech walks into your office and hands you his two weeks notice. That’s never been a fun situation. And according to a recent survey, it’s getting a lot less fun with each passing day. Why? Because replacing that tech is harder than it’s been in years.

Measure, check, pull. Measure, re-measure, pull, check. For those of us in the auto body repair industry, this was a typical day in the life of a technician. Fast forward to the present and we now have electronic measuring systems like Chief’s Laser Lock™. Electronic measuring systems make technician’s lives easier by taking out the guess work; showing exactly where repair is needed. Unfortunately, the guess and check game is still being played in the heavy-duty repair industry. But Chief is changing all that. The Chief Cam Scan HD is an all new photographic imaging and measuring tool for HD shops.

How many collision shops can service a Toyota Prius? How many a can do frame pulls on a Ford F-150? We assume the answer is nearly all of them, but how many can make repairs on a school bus or a dump truck? That number drops significantly. Be one of the elite shops, and say “yes” to the heavy duty repairs. Chief Automotive has rolled out a new line of heavy-duty repair tools, which allows your shop to take on those repairs, and be one of the only shops around that can say “yes”.